A Japanese website has just released four extended behind-the-scenes that feature never-before-seen footage and cool background information about Beorn, the Wargs of Wilderland, Lake-town and the Spiders of Mirkwood.
They don’t seem to be from the Theatrical Edition, and seem to be part of a “making-of” DVD/Blu-ray bundle that’s about to be released in Japan.
(The outdoor Lake-Town wet set with extras and crew assembled for a night shoot on “The Hobbit.”)
WELLINGTON — The great cities of history have risen up around rivers, lakes and on coasts. Water holds vast and replenishing stores of food, improves transportation of people and goods, encourages trade, and of course keeps a population hydrated. Paris. London. Hong Kong. New York. Tokyo. Moscow. Boston. On and on.
Lake-town benefitted from excellent transportation and presumably a wealth of fish and food and clean, fresh water but it was built on water for a different reason.
Dragons.
One dragon in particular: Smaug The Terrible.
Tolkien’s Lake-town, like real-world Venice, was built on wooden pillars sunk into water. The lake men — with the destruction of Dale seared forever into their memory — built on water for safety. We watched it in the prolog of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” while they had to live with the fear of dragon every day. Water-based living provided at least a chance against the great and terrible worm if he ever attacked again.
You may recall a week or so ago, Empire Magazine teased a low-resolution image of Bilbo wrapped in blankets in Lake-town. Now, courtesy of our German friends at Herr-de-ringe-film.de we have this rather fine high-resolution version for your viewing pleasure! (Word of warning, this is a largish (approx 5mb) file that is 4896 x 3264 pixels. So it may take a little while to load on slower connections.)
…the dwarves’ good feeling towards the little hobbit grew stronger every day. There were no more groans or grumbles. They drank his health, and they patted him on the back, and they made a great fuss of him; which was just as well, for he was not feeling particularly cheerful. He had not forgotten the look of the Mountain, nor the thought of the dragon, and he had besides a shocking cold. For three days he sneezed and coughed, and he could not go out, and even after that his speeches at banquets were limited to “Thag you very buch.”
A Japanese website has just released four extended behind-the-scenes that feature never-before-seen footage and cool background information about Beorn, the Wargs of Wilderland, Lake-town and the Spiders of Mirkwood. 
The little 
